Shred the Biebs

I just can't ever bring myself to buy that shredded paper you get prepacked in bags. I'm always asking myself, "how can I do this without spending the money?" (after all it's just shredded paper, why should we be paying for that?) So instead, I substitute old posters (right now I have my eye on a pile of Justin Beiber posters from Ali and Ambers room, ouch!), flyers, tissue paper, or junk mail. There are so many ways to get shredded paper without buying it. Oh yeah...you will need a shredder.... or someone who has one. There are different kinds, get the one that shreds long strips, not the kind that shreds like Taco Bell lettus. Okay, I wouldn't buy shredded paper but I would buy a shredder...is there something wrong with that!?

Looky here! Aren't these just beautiful?! Sparkling clean mason jars with ALL this colorful shredded paper.

I recycled tissue paper from presents. Yes...I save that too!

My plan next is to fill each one with a toy or chocolate bunny and lots of Easter candy for a special early Easter dinner with the family tonight.

We are having rib eye steaks, fettuchini alfredo, salad, papaya con lime juice, and (SOJ) Special Occasion Juice, yum. The jars are mainly for Albert, Hyrum, Ali, Amber, and Jonathan (Jonathan likes stuff like this), and Christian (he's a hard core chocolate lover, ladies), oh, and I just found out that Zach's- Hannah's new boyfriend who came home with her for spring break to officially "meet the family...MWAH HA HA HA" (evil laugh impression for those of you with no imagination)- "love language" is gifts. I imagine it must be hard to keep that up as a student with little disposable income...

I put a branch in each jar with a white nest cut out of cardstock as the name tag. With the "Easter Jars" it creates a more whimsical setting than the one in the "Lacey ROCKS" post. It's going to be a fun night. Candles for the adults... candy for the little ones...steak for the everyone!

Since we covered the table in white butcher block, Amber suggested we put crayons out to keep everyone (Hyrum, my youngest) busy till the sizziling steaks make they're way to our table.

Bona Petite!

vicki

music playing while posting- Sade 'Soldier of Love' album-nice,nice...

photos: homevestures.blogspot.com

HUGE TRUCK LOADS OF MULCH FREE!

Piles of things, especially piles of mulch, dirt, wood, and rocks, always get my attention.  Uniformed piles side by side seem so industrious and resourceful. I always imagine big trucks loading the stuff up and unloading it.  Then I think how can I get one of these big trucks to deliver some piles to me. 

Asplundh Tree Expert Co. is a company with the bright orange trucks that trim the trees around the electrical wires.  They will deliver truck loads of freshly chipped mulch for FREE if your house is close to where they are working.  Here's how you do it...you pull your car over around where they are working.  You get out of you car, and walk over to them.  The men all stop and look at you, you visually identify the man in charge.  Most likely he's not the one up in the trees.  Then you YELL at him asking him if he will deliver a truck load to your house.  He YELLS back at you asking where you live and telling you when he'll be there.  Then you go home and decide where to have them dump it.  They come, they dump, that's it. 

 Find out more about Asplundh here.

vicki

"Lacey ROCKS"

Originally I thought I could just dig some ordinary rocks out of my back yard...but they weren't unified enough in color or so pretty.  Some things become important to me and I'll never know why.  It was in my mind all along what the rocks needed to look like.  I wanted them to be smooth and roundish.  Luckily I found a nearby nursury...bless their hearts... they had EXACTLY what I had envisioned.  You pay by the pound, and it wasn't like buying apples, it was rocks for heavens sakes and I was watching as she weighed each one.  Thankfully I was the only one there besides the rock weigher to see me pack them into the tiny trunk of my miata.  I spent $30.  I kind of didn't want my husband to know cause he wouldn't understand.

I added these beautiful glass candle sticks.

I wanted to show you how the layering effect looks when we added the "sculptural laignappe bags" and the "elegant...easy...edible...eggs".

The textures work so well together.

I never tire of looking at mother natures gems. After incorporating "Lacey Rocks" into your table setting for Easter or any other occasion, you can then retire them into your fireplace or your gardens.  These rocks combined with candles create such a mood, actually anything combined with candles create such a mood!

Prep by washing and then air dry,  then use lace, dollies and white spray paint to get the effect. 

In my opinion ROCK always wins.

Vicki

photos: homevestures.blogspot.com

OSD Obsessive Sorting Disorder

There is so much talk and publications about gettting organized.  We see these beautiful spreads of well organized closets, and covet these newly created living spaces.  And now there are these new professionals whose jobs are to make our lives better by helping us get organized.

Let's imagine we hire one of these professional organizers...we bringing them into our house... open a closet that houses all our craft junk and containers of beads like these and politely say "could you get this sorted out for me...?  Thank you!"  No one ever addresses this kind of "get organized".  I know some of you are just saying, "throw it away!".  But will your conscience let you do that...?  After all, we are living in the "green" age.  We CAN'T just throw things away...!  Right?
 

Is this...

• Insanity vs OSD (Obsessive Sorting Disorder)
• Testing your childrens fine motor skills vs THE ultimate punishment
• or recreational activity vs the value of work?

Mom:  Who in their right mind would sort this!?

Amber:  You...

Mom:  No!...well, maybe...?
 (to Ali) Would you sort this...?

Ali:  Ive done that before...

Mom:  You did?!

Oops you missed some.

Shouldn't we sort the pink from the blue...?

And what about that orange one in there?  Oh...oh...I see a black one too.  Ooo and theres a green one.

Mom:  What would you call this Ali?

Ali:  uh...I don't know...the most tedious job on the face of the planet?

Mom:  Amber what would you call this?

Amber:  OSD Obsessive Sorting Disorder.

Mom:  I'm thinking we could do this for *FHE! 



Vicki

photo: homevestures.blogspot.com

*FHE is an acronym for Family Home Evening.  Every Monday night our family gets together and has singing, a lesson, talent, scripture, refreshments, and ACTIVITY!

rug boards

Somehow I had to get a piece of the Flor carpet tile action.  How?  The tiles are a bit pricey and I wasn't sure that I wanted the grid like pattern all over my floor.  However, I do think these people are genius!  Ah...the spaces they create draw you in.  I just love looking at their catalog for inspiration. 

I was in the process of remodeling a space when I found out that I could order one of every kind of tile they have in 6.5"x6.5" sample size.  I thought oooh...these are SO cool, I've got to do something with them. This is how the rug boards came to be... 

The thing I love about these boards is that they can get as big or small as you like.  You could do monochromatic colors, gray scale, or whole remnant boards.  Love it!  Carpet is not very hard to cut...you just use a straight edge and a matt knife with a NEW blade.  Or if your cutting an oval like I did with the painted Ikea frame, I used heavy duty fabric sissors.

With the Flor tiles I used hot glue and glued the squares onto a piece of cardboard  I then secured it into my frame by using a electric (they are smooth and easy to use) staple gun and paint stirs to attach the tile board to the back of the frame.

I got SHORT screws and screwed them into the back about 1/3 of the way down.  Then attached wire to the screws so I could hang my boards.   My frame was custom made from pictureframes.com.  I like ordering WHITE or BLACK  frames from them they have a nice selection, reasonable, and it comes right to your door, you never have to leave the house.

So... I've been thinking how interesting it would be to put carpet on the walls.  What I mean is to make one wall an accent wall of carpet. Then hang a very interesting piece of art work and wire some spot lights on it.  This might go well in a theater room or a family/ game/ flex room, or even a hallway. 

Um...Um...Um...  Yes...I'd do it, yes I would.

vicki

  

pictures by homevestures.blogspot.com

click here to view flor carpet tiles

and here for picture frames

elegant...easy...edible...egg

Some things just need to be easy...

Use your imagination for an elegant EASY name place.

When we say someones' name, we are giving them a sign or signal of approval.  Children love to see and hear their names and it's a reward when you say it lovingly.  Christopher was over a few nights ago while Dawnelle was at a meeting.  The thing that comforted him the most when he got hungry and began missing mommy was hearing his name repeated over and over again.

Your Easter meal is a good time to summon feelings of love for your guests as you set the table with a special elegant...easy...edible...egg.

vicki

angry birds

Last month my little brothers ordered a bunch of Angry Birds plush toys. They came in the mail about two weeks ago. So, instead of Albert and Hyrum playing Angry Birds as an application on my parents' phones, they got the Lincoln Logs and built their own scenarios. 

The yellow bird has been captured by the pigs.

The next day, I decided that it would be cool if I surprised Albert and Hyrum with this (I must admitt) pretty awesome set up of Angry Birds. So I sat on my living room floor building a structure with Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, Marble Works, and Lego's. Sure, it doesn't look like much, but nothing beat the smiles on my little brother's faces when they saw this. Hyrum was able to see it about an hour before Albert, and his smile disappeared once he discovered that he could not shoot the birds until Albert got home.

For those of you who don't know the story of angry birds, this is it: The pigs were hungry and stole the birds eggs to eat. The birds were angry and wanted revenge.

After my brothers got the stuffed animals they heard about the new Angry Birds movie called Rio. They can't wait to see it. It's made by the same producer as Ice Age. Because I love Ice Age so much, Rio suddenly became a must see on my movie list. And then.... to add to my excitment..., will.i.am and Jamie Foxx sang Rio's theme song on American Idol last week. 



Left: Jamie Foxx; Right: will.i.am

As a family, we love watching American Idol together and judging for ourselves who is the best. And when they sang this song, because of Albert and Hyrum's love for Angry Birds... We all decided we're going!

In my opinion making scenarios for Angry Birds is a great and fun thing do do with your kids or younger siblings when they are bored.  All you need is a couple stuffed animals, and something to build the scenarios with.  You could use anything. Cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, empty cans,  old milk jugs or cartons, story books, ect. The sky's the limit.

My set up may look sturdy and strong, but it took Albert and Hyrum each three hard throws with the birds before the whole thing was destroyed.

Try it, I guarantee anyone who contributes with this project will have a blast!

AmBer